The present invention relates generally to variable speed drives, and more specifically, to variable speed drives with voltage-sag ride through capability for use in heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) equipment.
Variable speed drives (VSDs) are used in HVAC&R systems to provide variable magnitude and variable frequency AC voltage to motors driving refrigeration compressors. VSDs are typically comprised of an input rectifier, a DC link and an inverter. Line AC voltage, supplied at a fixed magnitude and fixed frequency by an electric utility, is rectified by the VSDs input rectifier into a DC voltage. This DC voltage is filtered and stabilized by the passive components with energy storage capability (such as capacitors) at the DC link. The DC link voltage is then inverted to a variable magnitude, variable frequency AC voltage, which feeds the electrical load. In HVAC&R equipment, the electrical load is normally an electric motor coupled to a compressor. VSDs are particularly susceptible to undervoltage conditions, referred to as voltage sags, occurring on the utility supply input. Such voltage sags are reflected through to the DC link voltage and to the load unless corrected or compensated in other ways. The majority of line voltage sags occur for short durations, on the order of several milliseconds to a few seconds. Such voltage sags may cause the DC link voltage to sag, and the VSD system to shut down. The ability of a VSD to ride through a voltage sag without shutting down, and to resume operation after the input voltage is recovered, is considered advantageous in a VSD as it reduces the HVAC&R equipment's downtime. For VSDs based on voltage source inverter (VSI) technology, ride-through capability is typically achieved by maintaining the DC link voltage at or near the rated value. The VSD is then able to provide a sufficient voltage to drive the electric motor. Otherwise, if the DC link falls sufficiently below its rated value, the VSD and chiller control system will shut down to prevent irregular and potentially harmful motor or compressor operation.
The most common type of rectifier used in VSDs, however, is a passive rectifier. A passive rectifier typically includes a three-phase diode bridge. With a passive rectifier, the DC link voltage is directly proportional to the input line voltage. A passive rectifier therefore does not compensate for the variations in input line voltage. Consequently, a voltage sag will cause the DC link voltage to drop, which, in turn, may cause the VSD to shutdown.
When a passive rectifier is used in the VSD, one possible way of improving ride-through capability is to provide an additional source of power connected to the DC link, as described in Annette von Jouanne et al., Assessment of Ride-Through Alternatives for Adjustable-Speed Drives, 35 IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications 908 (1999), which is incorporated herein by reference. Such an additional source of power can be provided by additional capacitors, a DC boost converter, batteries, supercapacitors, motor-generator sets, flywheels, superconductive magnetic energy storage systems, fuel cells, etc. All of these require additional hardware and therefore significantly increase the cost of a VSD. A relatively inexpensive way of increasing the ride-through capability of a VSD with passive front end is to use the load inertia to generate power during a voltage sag (also described in Annette von Jouanne et al. cited above). In order to achieve this way of increasing the ride through capability, the inverter output frequency during a voltage sag is adjusted to a value slightly below the motor load frequency. This causes the motor to act as a generator and to maintain the DC link voltage at a desired level. This method typically requires motor speed and current sensors, which may add to the cost of a VSD.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,686,718 describes various techniques of increasing the ride through capability of a VSD. For example, another possible way of increasing ride-through capability of a VSD is to use an Active Rectifier. Such a rectifier is able to compensate for the variations in the input line voltage, through the use of power devices capable of switching on and off the line currents, together with specialized control methods. The DC link voltage can therefore be kept at a value sufficiently large to prevent VSD shutdowns. This technique is described in Annabelle van Zyl et al., Voltage Sag Ride-Through for Adjustable-Speed Drives with Active Rectifiers, 34 IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications 1270 (1998), which is incorporated herein by reference.
One such Active Rectifier employs a pulse-width modulated (PWM) boost rectifier. The DC link voltage may be tightly regulated at a nominal value during a decrease or sag in the input line voltage. However, the input AC current of the boost rectifier increases as the line voltage decreases. Due to the practical current conduction and current switching limitations of the boost rectifier components, the input AC current cannot be allowed to increase indefinitely. Rather, it must be controlled (through boost rectifier control algorithms) so that it never exceeds a predetermined limit, which is referred to as the boost rectifier current limit. As long as the boost rectifier's input current is below or at the current limit, the boost rectifier's output DC voltage may be tightly controlled at a nominal setpoint. However, if the line voltage continues to drop after the current limit of the boost rectifier is reached, the boost rectifier is no longer capable of regulating the output DC voltage to the setpoint value although the input current remains controlled at the current limit level. As the inverter section of the VSD continues to draw current from the DC link capacitors to drive the motor at the same power level prior to the inception of the voltage sag, the energy stored in the DC link capacitors is transferred to the load, and the voltage of the DC link decreases. If this situation continues for a sufficient period of time, the DC link voltage will decrease below a predetermined fault threshold and the chiller system will eventually shut down.
Therefore what is needed is a method for increasing the ride-through capability of a VSD applied to an HVAC&R system beyond the current ride-through capability of state-of-the-art general purpose VSDs described above. This new method is based upon boosting and controlling the voltage of the DC link to maximize the period of VSD and HVAC&R system operational time during a voltage sag, capturing and maintaining the maximum amount of energy stored in the inertia of the rotating motor and compressor in order to preserve the energy in the DC link circuit, and utilizing the energy stored in the refrigerant and water circuits of the HVAC&R system to maximize the ride-through capability of the system during an input voltage sag.